4+ Assessments 2025

[KnackeredBunny]

Main thread for 2025 applications. Can’t find the previous thread for 2025 but from memory it has a typo in the title. I’ve only made this one to make sure everyone finds it easily!

Advice from previous assessments gladly taken. This is our first time applying. It’s a little early still so why don’t we start with where everyone is applying?

We’re looking at The Hall, Alleyn’s, Habs, Highgate UCS, and Manor Lodge. Have looked at some prep from previous threads and starting to think we’re seriously under-prepared…

I don’t know anyone from our nursery or circle who would choose ucs over Highgate. Obviously both fab schools but Highgate has everything going for it and definitely seems the most sought after and hardest to get.

Please could someone explain what the waitlist process looks like? We have a place for my son at a school already (coed) but he's also been offered wait list spots at Hall and Hereward. The former apparently is a short waitlist whatever that means. The window for a decision is quite narrow depending on how the wait list evolves.

@westcountryman Every offeree is given a deadline to confirm acceptance, early February for most schools. Given the cross‑admissions we’ve seen so far, I believe many schools will convert a good number of waitlist candidates into firm offers.

Schools have also asked parents to let them know early if they do not plan to accept an offer, so they can extend places to those on the waitlist.

I would suggest following up proactively with the school you’re most interested in and demonstrating your commitment. I don’t think schools necessarily follow a strict pecking order for the waitlist, so showing interest may help you move up when they start converting places.

I think just because of the environment. I have a slightly gentler boy and I’ve heard it can be good to help balance that out by going to a boys school! UCS is also slightly closer to our house

I would of thought the opposite. Boys around girls would equal a gentler surrounding than all boys. UCS has no lunches which is annoying. you should go with your gut of course.

Yes I know! I’ve been advised to go for a boys school because a rowdier environment will help balance out the gentleness inherent in him.

congrats to all the offer holders!

there seems to be a lot of Highgate / UCS offers on this thread alone. Is it possible schools are offering more now to offset the risk of parents pulling out due to VAT etc?

wishful thinking but no

Yes and it seems a lot got through to round 2 Habs boys.

Our nursery hasn’t had a very good successful rate with Habs but this year everyone seemed to have been called for second round 🤷‍♀️

ive DM’d you

We are open to prep and through - WUS was 1st choice and I get the proximity thing but they did say that they'd only consider proximity in the 2nd round, not the 1st so it's disingenuous for them to factor it in to 1st round. Current school did call WUS for feedback and the feedback was "he performed well, nothing negative at all" so it's baffling as to why he didn't get a callback but hey ho.

DS is not an introvert; he's well balanced and seems to enjoy physical activity.

So our route to Westminster is now via Prep, i.e. Hereward House. The through schools won't prepare him for 11+/13+ so we're taking a gamble going for Hereward that he'll a) enjoy a boys-only setting, b) pass the exams at 11+/13+ and get in, vs. ending up at Highgate/UCS/Habs anyway. Given the number of exits from Hereward House to Westminster over the past years is about 10-15% of the class, the odds are slim and therefore not worth the risk so we're leaning towards Highgate as the stress free option that still achieves an excellent education.

A lot more HH boys get westminster offers than go to westminster fwiw. Boys from HH just end up going to the school which is best for them rather than assuming Westminster should be default for most boys. This to me is the sign of a healthy school and mentality. If I were you I'd ask the school how many offers they had for each of the schools you envision your 3 year old going to when he's 13...

No prep is a guarantee for places like Highgate either which can get closer to 1,000 applicants for 80 places (40 for boys) for 11+. In fact, many preps don't have a stellar record at Highgate as you can see from their exit results, not even the Hall, which only sent 1 last year vs 5 to a place which is nowhere near as good like Mill Hill. And zero the previous year. Similarly for UCS.

All this said, you seem to be very westminster focused, so I'd definitely go the prep route, lest you'll be wondering forever, because if you go to a through school, the chances of Westminster are very slim.

HH is a wonderful school according to my three friends whose boys are there and the families are very academically minded and ambitious.
However having observed WUS 7+ this year I think the safest route is through Wetherby Notting Hill at the moment - at least among all SW schools. Used to be Eaton house Belgravia but no more.

Having said that HH is a wonderful academic school and every single child I know who was properly prepared for 7+ this year got into WUS, Kings and St Paul’s.

Good luck to those waiting to hear from Habs today! Nervously refreshing my emails

Habs results are out. Good luck to everyone.

Habs girls or Habs boys? Still waiting!

Boys

has anyone heard from WUS 4+

Anyone got an email from girls

Congrats to everyone - whatever your results. 🎉If you have found yourself on a Waiting List for a school, send me a DM and I can explain how best to deal with it. There will be lots of movement on the WL in the next few weeks. 👌

Wow, everyone seems to have done so well! As someone who will be applying next year, I wonder if anyone could provide a bit of insight. Namely, did you tutor or prep at home? Did you expect to get many offers (ie sense that your kid was outgoing / bright / communicative) or do you think it’s maybe not as difficult as is possibly made out? Lastly, some parents seemed to apply to schools that are very far apart. Would you be willing to move or just accept that a longer commute is part of the price to be paid for a good school?

Of the children that I know who received 4+ offers for selective schools, 8/9 were tutored. It's distasteful but there are no prizes for being principled about tutor use. No doubt the minority that aren't tutored are prepared fairly equivalently at home, so it's mainly a question of whether you have time for that personally, or whether you need to outsource it. We couldn't bring ourselves to tutor, and weren't successful with the most selective schools. YMMV.

The only other advice I can give is to consider an academic pre-prep. In addition to preparing the children well, many have close relations with the nearby selective schools and this seems to give a major leg up. E.g. The Avenue pre-prep for Channing/Highgate etc, the Hall, etc. You can see from their published offer stats their success at feeding the most desirable schools

We are two working parents full time and we did zero tutoring

The Avenue specifically do not prep for 4+ as they are a 7+ school

you’re better off going for Clowns or the like

I have heard incredible things about Avenue for 7+ though